Toronto held scoreless for second straight game despite impressive first-half performance.

In the run-up to his team's road match against Seattle Sounders FC, Toronto FC coach Chris Cummins said they needed 12 points from their final eight matches to secure a playoff spot.

After a superb first half, Toronto looked like a lock to pick up all three points with a win before settling for a 0-0 draw against Sounders FC. It was the second straight game they've gone scoreless; last week they lost 2-0 to Chivas USA.

"I thought the first half was the best 45 minutes we have played. We had a lot of chances in the first half. We're just unlucky – we hit the bar and a couple of balls just go wide," Cummins said. "I thought we had legs today, we had energy and the tactics we set out there was good."

Led by Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto turned in an entertaining game on the road.

Not content to sit back and defend for 90 minutes, the visitors claimed the lion's share of the scoring opportunities, threatening to break through several times in the first half.

Against a team with a good home record like Seattle, Toronto could have been expected to defend heavily and try to score on the counterattack. Cummins instead went with a more offensive formation.

The risky gambit worked in the first half as De Rosario ran riot on Seattle's defence.

Seattle coach Sigi Schmid conceded that his team was lucky not to have conceded two or three goals by halftime as TFC poured forward in waves.

In the second half, Schmid made adjustments as Toronto saw its grip on the game slip away.

Cummins' squad was in real danger of conceding a goal in stoppage time, but a fantastic save from rookie goalkeeper Stefan Frei on Osvaldo Alonso preserved the draw.

After the match, Cummins admonished his team for almost letting the match slip away, but overall was pleased with the effort.

"We've shown that hunger, that desire. We showed a lot of quality today as well," Cummins said. "A little bit more quality up front and we come away with a win in a tough place to come.

"It's a good point for us. We're disappointed not to get all three after the first-half performance, but we'll take a point and build on it."

After a week of training, Toronto faces another road test next weekend against Colorado.

De Rosario was also pleased with the Reds' performance, especially after they came out flat in the first meeting between the two teams.

"The intensity that we started the game off is something we need to see from the rest of the club all season," De Rosario said. "A draw at the end of the day is a fair result but we left some opportunities out on the field.

"It would be nice to come back in with three points going into next week," he added.

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